SCRIPTUM 1: MOON Philosophies of India by Heinrich Zimmer

Philosophies of India

Heinrich Zimmer (1830-1943)

The moon, the stars, dissolve. The mounting tide becomes a limitless sheet of water. This is the interval of a night of Brahma. Vishnu sleeps. Like a spider that has climbed up the thread that once issued from its own organism, drawing it back into  itself, the god has consumed again the web of the universe. Alone upon the immortal substance of the ocean, a giant figure, submerged partly, partly afloat, he takes delight in slumber. There is no one to behold him, no one to comprehend him; there is no knowledge of him, except within himself. 

Mnemonic breakdown:

The moon, the stars, dissolve. 

The mounting tide becomes a limitless sheet of water. 

This is the interval of a night of Brahma. 

Vishnu sleeps. 

Like a spider that has climbed up the thread that once issued from its own organism, 

drawing it back into  itself, 

the god has consumed again the web of the universe. 

Alone upon the immortal substance of the ocean, a giant figure, 

submerged partly, partly afloat, 

he takes delight in slumber. 

There is no one to behold him, 

no one to comprehend him; 

there is no knowledge of him, 

except within himself. 

Notes:

Spider: resonance with Sinners at the Hands of an Angry God

Full text of "Heinrich Robert Zimmer, Myths And Symbols In Indian Art And Civilization"